Ousted Salvesen chief in line for pay-off worth £900,000

The chief executive of the haulage and logistics group Christian Salvesen was ousted yesterday after a torrid period for the company culminating in a profits warning two months ago.

The chief executive of the haulage and logistics group Christian Salvesen was ousted yesterday after a torrid period for the company culminating in a profits warning two months ago.

Edward Roderick, who had been chief executive of the business since the demerger of its plant hire arm, Aggreko, seven years ago, is in line for a pay-off worth about £900,000. A spokeswoman said his severance terms were still being negotiated. Mr Roderick was on a two-year contract and was paid £440,000 last year.

Salvesen's new chairman, David Fish, will take over temporarily as chief executive while a successor is sought.

The departure of Mr Roderick is the latest in a series of boardroom changes at Salvesen, which was founded 100 years ago by the Norwegian shipping dynasty of the same name. The Salvesen family still own 35 per cent of the shares.

The company lost its finance director, Peter Aspden, in July last year and in October, Mr Fish - a former senior executive with the confectionery group Mars - took over as chairman.

Salvesen was the subject of a takeover approach a year ago from an unnamed financial buyer. When it was withdrawn, Salvesen shares slumped and have struggled since. They were hit again in April, falling 20 per cent after Salvesen warned that stock write-downs would hit profits for the year to the end of March. The company reports its annual results on 8 June.

Sources close to Salvesen stressed that Mr Roderick had not been ousted for any specific reason but that it was felt it was the time for change after seven years in the job. "The company's problems go right back to the original demerger. It has had a difficult time in difficult markets," one source said.

The company has made progress in recent months, disposing of its troubled German logistics operation and restructuring its Spanish operations. The focus now is to improve its UK arm, which includes Ford, General Motors and Marks & Spencer among its customers.